Can You Charge More As A Beginning Therapist?

Are you early in your career and wondering if you can charge more as a beginning therapist? Is it okay to charge the amount you want or need early in your career?

A while back I wrote an article about how less than half of masters-level therapists are getting licensed. After diving into that topic, I have been mulling over how difficult it is for folks to get licensed.

In my article, I pointed out that half of those not getting licensed blame financial concerns. Finances seem to be one of the biggest reasons why individuals are not able to begin their career.

This Topic Is Nuanced

Someone left a comment on one of my YouTube videos that articulates the question that I want to address today. Here is the comment:

This comment captures the nuance that comes up when we have this conversation. It seems straightforward to say: I want to advocate for access to affordable therapy, therefore I will charge an affordable rate. However, therapists have many financial responsibilities/burdens.

Therapists have bills to pay, may have years of deferred income from going through training unpaid, and many have accrued five or six figures of student debt that they need to pay off. On top of that, private practice has a fair amount of overhead expenses to account for. And don’t forget about the increase in cost of living!

So if you’re trying to charge the amount that is affordable for your clients, then you may not be able to keep being a therapist. So…then, what??

Systemic Issue Vs. The Individual

how much can I charge as a beginning therapist

Something that I REALLY, REALLY want to emphasize is: we often, in our field and society, take a systemic problem and see it as an individualized issue.

I think we can all agree that, in the U.S., access to mental health care services is incredibly difficult. We can also agree that our care for those in the mental health field is not prioritized within the healthcare system.

But, even though we are aware of that, when we see an individual therapist’s choices we judge them on an individualized basis.

For example, when we see someone choose to work in private practice instead of at an agency, or see someone choose to bill out-of-pocket instead of billing insurance, or choose to charge more than other therapists, we judge that individual therapist.

The judgment is: that therapist must not care about access to services. But, we are judging the individual for a systemic issue.

If we have this huge problem, we are not going to make any progress if we put the burden on the individual to fix the systemic issue. If, as a society, we care about affordable access to mental health care services we need to make society-wide changes.

So while we are living in a society that doesn’t prioritize mental healthcare services, each person is left to do the best that they can within the broken system.

What About Ethics?

All of that said, is it okay to charge more as a beginning therapist? Can you charge the amount that you want or need to in order to make a livable wage?

One piece of misinformation that I saw floating around is that some people say that therapists have a legal or ethical obligation to charge a rate that is affordable for clients.

Now unless I’m missing some ethical obligations that exist in other jurisdictions, that don’t apply in my jurisdiction of the state of California, I wasn’t able to find any such obligation. However, there are places where we are encouraged to offer a certain amount of slots at an affordable rate or pro bono.

Being encouraged is very different from saying that we’re obligated legally or ethically to charge an affordable rate. (Keep in mind that I’m not a legal professional!)

To sum up, each individual therapist, particularly in a private practice setting, has the freedom to set the rate however they so choose.

Regardless of where they are in their career, or level of expertise. It’s simply a decision. Not a moral decision.

In my personal opinion, the only real solution in increasing access to therapy services is a radical systemic change in how we conduct our healthcare system.

Early Income Building

So, for as long as we are still living in the wild, wild west of mental healthcare where our current system isn’t set up well to support the client or the therapist well, one path to consider is building up your income early on. That way you will have a nice cushion of savings, retirement, and investments. Then, from the abundance of having that financial cushion, you could consider giving more of your time away as you enter later phases of your career.

From my experience, most therapists are not looking to greedily fill up their money bags. But, therapists do need to afford to live safely and comfortably. That way they can offer safety and comfort to their clients.

If it’s possible to build up that safety and comfort early on, then when you reach a level of financial stability you can choose to give your time away in various ways.

More than likely, if you see a therapist who charges an exorbitant cash rate, they’re probably not being greedy. It’s more likely that they’re just trying to find a way to pay their bills.

Now, with that said, there are always folks, in any field, who are greedy. And those individuals are present in our field as well. But, I’d venture a guess, that on average that’s not the case for most therapists.

A Proposed System Overhaul

It seems important to touch on a point that seems to go hand and hand with this topic.

And that is that most people, generally speaking, who find it a challenge to afford mental healthcare seem to have higher mental healthcare needs.

It makes sense. If you’re really struggling, then it’s hard to hold down a job, and pay for services.

I want to propose a change in our field. What if we were to have therapists, at the beginning of their career, work with clients who are more financially equipped, and a bit more psychologically equipped? Then, as therapists gain experience they would expect to get continued training to equip them to work with folks who have higher and higher levels of need.

Then, this whole system could work. Maybe.

As we know, the system is set up completely backwards from what I just described.

Therapists early in their careers usually work with the highest needs clients. This is when therapists have the least amount of experience and financial stability. So, we’re asking therapists who have scarcity to work with clients who have scarcity. I don’t know how we got here, but that just doesn’t make any sense!

You Have Freedom!

So to sum up my thoughts: no matter what you want to charge, it’s okay to charge that amount. I mean that in all directions.

You can charge more as a beginning therapist, if you so choose. Or maybe you’re later in your career and you want to charge less than other folks. Maybe you want to accept insurance, or stay at the agency job. Whatever it is that you choose, it’s okay!

We’re all just doing the best we can to live out our career in a way that aligns best with our values. Hopefully, I’ve communicated that you have the freedom to do whatever you want. Within legal and ethical limits, of course!

It’s your job to figure out what makes the most sense given your needs, values, and the system we’re working within.